Stanford Entrepreneurship Videos

Brendan Boyle, partner at the design firm IDEO, explains how play is much more than a frivolous kid’s activity or games in the company break room. To Boyle, a consulting associate professor at the Stanford d.school, play is the ultimate form of engagement. He founded IDEO’s Toy Lab to uncover kid-centered solutions to the challenge of boredom. “The two biggest reasons we come to work are purpose and play,” he says.

Entrepreneur Jay Kaplan, co-founder and CEO of Synack, describes how the idea of creating a cybersecurity service for enterprise businesses by crowdsourcing hackers went from sounding like a long shot to launching as a venture capital-backed startup. Kaplan, previously a senior analyst at the National Security Administration, talks about the virtues of government work and the nuances of “white hat” hacking.

Jay Kaplan, co-founder and CEO of cybersecurity startup Synack, describes the immense need for technology experts to combat the ubiquitous threat of malicious hackers. He mentions high-profile attacks on major businesses and organizations, but also demonstrates how even an inconspicuous online account can be attacked within minutes by automated hacking programs.

Synack Co-Founder and CEO Jay Kaplan talks about launching his cybersecurity startup after attending George Washington University under a Department of Defense scholarship program. He went on to serve as a cybersecurity expert in the department, and here, recalls the moment he realized when the skills, experience and colleagues gained in government could be leveraged to start a company.

Synack’s Jay Kaplan discusses how the cybersecurity startup he heads mitigates concerns stemming from the practice of using crowdsourced hackers around the world to identify vulnerabilities in the systems of private companies and government agencies that serve as customers. Synack’s safeguards include rigorous vetting and tracking, as well as placing high “bounties” on the most serious vulnerabilities.

Entrepreneur Jay Synack explains how the experience as cybersecurity experts in the National Security Agency among those on his startup team helped override the doubts of early customers. He also discusses how the use of crowdsourced hackers to identify system vulnerabilities also raised concerns initially, but then proved so effective that one customer even became paralyzed with fear after seeing the results.

“Don’t just ride a trend, build a lasting company,” says Jay Kaplan, co-founder and CEO of cybersecurity startup Synack. Kaplan also advises aspiring entrepreneurs to hire employees and bring on investors and advisors who will propel a business forward. He emphasizes the importance of pursuing bold ideas, not boring ones, and staying committed: “Be passionate, but patient about the grand vision.”

Julie Zhuo, vice president of product design at Facebook, describes how the development of new features starts with three questions: What people problem are we solving? How do we know it’s a real problem? And how will we know if we’ve solved it? Zhuo explains how answering those fundamental questions at the outset reveals the most urgent problems to tackle — and yields features that truly enhance user satisfaction.

Julie Zhuo, vice president of product design at Facebook, says the first question to ask when trying to provide a solution is, “What people problem are we trying to solve?” This means defining the challenge in everyday terms, not tech lingo, and remaining agnostic to the solution's form, Zhuo explains. A problem should also be stated in a way that “gets at the why,” and when possible, acknowledges human needs beyond functionality, according to Zhuo.

Facebook’s vice president of product design, Julie Zhuo, talks about how a problem’s importance can be gauged by first looking for supporting evidence. This helps prioritize people’s limited time and energy on solutions for their audience, as opposed to focusing on problems based on self-interest, Zhuo explains. “The question to ask is, ‘Is this a problem that is worth solving?’” she says.

Julie Zhuo describes how the expansion of one-tap reactions on Facebook resulted from surveys inquiring whether complaints about only being able to “like” posts was a real problem for users. According to Zhuo, Facebook's vice president of product design, her team found that users wanted to show a broader range of emotions, but with the same ease as the “like” button.

Julie Zhuo, vice president of product design at Facebook, explains the importance of visualizing success before beginning work on a project and how it can help teams avoid the tendency to define success along the way with vanity metrics. The question to ask is, “How will we know if we’ve solved this problem?” Zhuo says. “What would be different in the world?”

Michael Ackermann, CEO of a medical-device startup acquired by Allergan, discusses the advantages of joining a larger company. Acquired firms can leverage the massive resources and market coverage of a parent company to magnify impact, as well as learn from experienced professionals about how to launch new products, Ackermann says. Now vice president of neurostimulation at Allergan, Ackermann adds that entrepreneurs should see acquisition as an opportunity because it eliminates the funding uncertainties startups typically face.

Bioengineering executive Michael Ackermann describes how the unique challenges of the healthcare industry can serve as advantages for entrepreneurs. Once you understand the regulatory landscape and intricacies of the sector’s diverse stakeholders, Ackermann says those same barriers can discourage other entrepreneurs from entering the market. The onetime CEO of a startup that created a tear-stimulation device for those with dry-eye disease, Ackermann explains how capturing even a small slice of the $3 trillion healthcare market is huge.

Michael Ackermann, vice president of neurostimulation at the pharmaceutical giant Allergan, offers thoughts on how healthcare policy will be affected by the election of Donald Trump as America’s commander in chief. On the day after Trump was elected president, Ackermann discussed how much is unknown about the new administration and its agenda, how another system for encouraging Americans to get insured may replace the Affordable Care Act if it is dismantled, and how soaring healthcare costs will remain a major issue.